I've been busy with family, enjoying the holidays and doing some creating! All of these shabby chic woodland wedding themed earrings, necklaces, ring bearer pillow, card keeper and more can be found in the etsy shop by clicking the photographs, or right here:http://www.sacredcake.etsy.com
See you again very soon!
Many Blessings,
Jennifer Valentine of Sacred Cake

Thursday, December 15, 2011

I had an order for quite a few ornaments recently and wanted to share some of them with you. It is a fairly simple project, that will hopefully stir your imagination as well!

What you will need:
large vintage filigree piece
photograph of a small face for the center
some clear plastic or celophane to cover the center
vintage jewelry parts and pieces
old buttons
old chandelier crystal (also found on ebay or etsy.com)
e-6000 glue (found at walmart, online, or at a craft store)
aged ribbon or seam binding
diamond glaze
sheet music or decorative paper

each one with crinkled aged seam binding ribbon hanger

each have different vintage chandelier crystal dangles

sweet little vintage boy angel ornament

Directions:
Cut the angel's face a bit larger than the hole in the filigree, along with a piece of mica, or plastic. I used a piece of old yellowed plastic on some and a piece of Mica on the others. Glue the circle of Mica on to the back of the filigree by beading a little glue around the opening. Place the plastic disc over the opening and clamp the edges with small clamps or press under a book. Be sure to put a piece of plastic, like a ziploc bag between the ornament and the book, so the book doesn't stick to your ornament.
Working with one ornament at a time, coat the plastic on the back with a coat of diamond glaze and firmly press the photo onto the plastic. Press out any air bubbles. Don't worry, imperfection is part of the charm!
Now, turn your angel over and add your embellishments. I used vintage jewelry parts and pieces, antique mother of pearl buttons and seam binding ribbon that I aged myself with walnut ink. Be sure to wear safety glasses when removing the backs from old jewelry.
E-6000 glue is self leveling, so the backs of your vintage parts do not have to be completely flat, though it helps to sand them down as flat as possible. I use a dremel tool, but a basic metal file works well too.
For the backs of the ornament, I glued on a square of scalloped vintage sheet music to cover.

antique little girl's face ornament

If you don't want to cut an old photo, just make a copy of it on your computer, like I did. I used three different sweet little faces for my angels. You can even make these with photographs of your own children or ancestors...these are too cute to store away after Christmas! They make very cute decor wherever you need a bit of cheer and sparkle!
***If you'd like me to create one for you, just leave a comment with your email address (it will absolutely not be published), and how many you'd like. The price is 18.00 each plus 3.00 to ship, and will be billed to you by my business Paypal account through the email address you provide. I can most certainly make these with any photograph you'd like, or the ones I have shown here. Each one will be one of a kind!

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Yesterday I was off to the neuropsycholigist for testing to see what might be the issue with my failing memory and increasing issues with peripheral neuropathy (progressivve nerve damage in hands and feet). I was early and the view of the lake in Paw Paw was so beautiful.~

Seeing the swans gliding on the water made me think of my first ever college class. It was British Literature. I loved it. I would walk through the Bellevue Community College campus near Seattle, Washington and tears would leak from my eyes with the amazement and the gratitude for finally being there in that place. College meant more to me than anything in the world. I was a high school drop out, and 17 years later, the longing to learn...to be taught...was finally no longer a longing, but a reality. We studied names I'd never heard before...Yeats, Housman, Wilde....and it was unforgettable.

I wanted to share with you, a favorite poem of mine by William Butler Yeats~

I am praying that "they" find out what is wrong with my hands. I try not to fear the worst...which is, that they are going to leave me the same way my feet have. The pinky on my left hand is almost completely numb...I call it "my bum pinky"...it is frustrating to type with it, but it really hasn't affected the work with my hands, for which I am SO grateful. I keep my focus on abundance. Not lack. Finding gratitude for the little things is so cathartic...and lately, so is much prayer.

self portrait

I'm thinking about my "word" for the upcoming year...I didn't choose one last year, like a lot of people in the blog world did and I felt kind of "nekkid" without it this past year. I think maybe I need more than just one word for the new year...embrace, grace, and self love.
Lord will someone give me some kind of spackle recipe for my dark circles?

Saturday, December 03, 2011

She smiles and says, something is coming...it is a secret that I can hardly keep, but it's good. It's really really good.Wait for it. Just wait. and keep going. Do what brings you joy. Because you only get this one wild and crazy life. This is not a dress rehearsal. Hold on to your child-like wonder, your creativity, your smile.

I found the vintage photo booth picture of her while dumpster diving after the residents of a small house fire began clearing their basement. I spent hours that day foraging for old books, photographs, antique lace and scraps...it was the most amazing "dumpster dive" I had ever encountered. (and I've had many. My children will unabashedly attest.) I went back for one more look when the throw away frenzy came to an end...and there she was...at the very, very bottom of the bin. A bit wet. A bit dirty. A little lost and forgotten.
I took her home.
I began making my assemblage jewelry a few years ago after I purchased a huge 20 pound box of junk jewelry parts from Ebay. I made that necklace first, and sealed her sweetness inside of it.
She is my talisman, when i feel the prying fingers of doubt and dismay pulling at my spirit. I wear her, and she brings me joy. She reminds me that anonymous wholesale or warmly known, the work of my hands will still be out there...touching lives...bringing conversation or compliments, or making women smile at themselves in the mirror. That's what it is all about, she tells me. It's about touching lives. It's about what we leave behind. it's about bringing joy and helping you feel pretty and brides feel beautiful on their most special day~

one of lovely "my brides" Celeste, wearing Joyous earrings. click image to see

So sweet that she has the same beautiful smile that the girl in my talisman has...and her photo and sweet words came along just when I needed reassurance that what I do for a living is significant and relevant in this world.

Ann, vintage photo booth photo

Would you like to make something with some of my collection of vintage photo booth photographs? The collection below was given to me by a sweet friend recently. They were all neatly displayed in a large photo album. Each photo booth photo was labeled underneath with the name of the person. I gently removed them from the album one by one, and wrote the name on the back of each so that I could know their names and return them to the proper spot in the book. I adore these types of photographs, and have been collecting them for years.
The one for my talisman necklace is the original photograph that I sealed with resin. You may use these for a project as well, but be sure to seal the photograph with something like matte medium before using the resin, so the photograph doesn't bleed.

Bernice, vintage photo booth picture

Stas, vintage military photo booth picture

Stella, vintage photo booth photo

Frances, vintage photobooth picture

Elsie, vintage photo booth photo

I just adore old photographs and my collection is ever growing. I have so many more of these tiny photos! If you'd like, I can email you the files. I'd love to share more of them with you.
Here is a collection of more. I scanned them at a high resolution, so they should print well.

My address is sacred_cake (at) yahoo [dot] com. Just send me an email and ask for more.
If you have any questions about how to make a necklace like mine, I'm happy to oblige.

Hey, have I told you lately how beautiful you are? In so many ways...
and I'm happy you are here today.

About Me

I design and create jewelry and functional assemblage art pieces for a living. I love my job! I currently sell my work on Etsy.com under the name of Sacred Cake. I've been featured in several amazing magazine publications like Somerset Life, Belle Armoire Jewelry, Jewelry Affaire and Artful Blogging. I'm also featured in a bestselling book by my sister, Kelly Rae Roberts, called "Taking Flight". I am honored to share my words and my work in such a wonderful publication. I am now on the journey of writing a book of my very own!I consider myself a sort of philanthropist on a "shoestring budget"...and I am very prone to daily random acts of kindness, singing in the grocery store, and most importantly, making people laugh.